
(Some 'VOWEL' Play Going On!)
''ALWAYS'' or ''CONSISTENTLY'' (aei)?
“Aei”
is a Greek word of interest to Bible students who wonder how long
sinful people will remain unrepentant after they die. Concerning
unbelievers who were preparing to stone Stephen, for example, the NIV
of Acts 7:51 reads, “You always [aei] resist the Holy Spirit.” In fact,
the NIV likewise translates aei as “always” on every other occasion.
But when rendering aei, the translators of the Concordant Version (CV)
avoided the word “always”, translating aei as “ever”.
The
Concordant Lexicon and The Concordant Greek Text present aei as meaning
a-ei or “un-if” (the literal counterpart of a-ei), which means
unconditionally or “on each and every occasion.” Colloquially this
would mean something like “no ifs, ands, or buts about it!” or in other
words “consistently.” Aei does not refer to continuity throughout
extended or infinite time. Hence the words used for translating
aei (always, always, continually, continuously, and ever) wrongly
convey the idea of absolute permanency.
While
this may seem to be a small and insignificant issue, it affects ones
understanding of seven Bible passages in which aei occurs. One
example is Acts 7:51 directed toward Stephen’s persecutors. Another is
Hebrews 3:10 where one must either believe that the Israelites who
rebelled against God will “always” be resisting Him (in the future) or
that they “consistently” did so in the past. The latter is
correct because aei says nothing against God’s changing their outlook
posthumously, in response to Christ’s victorious and all-inclusive work
on the cross.
TURA (The Ultimate Reconciliation of All, 24635 Apple St., Newhall, CA 91321-2614)
www.restoreallthings.org/gpage.html6.html consult the Writings of George Howe.
www.greenwood.net/~cdevans/srindex.htm consult “systematic reconciliation. georgefhowe@sbcglobal.net
www.reconciliationbiblesongs.org.